Werewolves at Hogwarts

Chapter 39

The Isle of Cardoul was in chaos! Kirsty Campbell stared at the crowd in front of her counter in something akin to terror. It had been a year of upheaval and panic, and everyone who could was apparating or portkeying up to the Isle to find out what was going on. Consequently, there were approximately seven thousand people coming in for Moon, which was ridiculous! Kirsty had a feeling that the poor island was going to sink under the weight. All their resources were stretched to the limit, and the local shops were all but sold out of everything.

The streets were thronged with folk, the hotel was full and overbooked, the teashop had even put tables out on the village green and the owner had collared a few extra relatives from the influx to help serve the hoard. Remus looked around the usually serene village and almost apparated out again, but Andy merely giggled and hooked arms with him.

"Come on, I promised Professor Snape we would look after you and we will. Where to, sir?"

"I ... oh dear, this is...."

"Remus!" The squeal was high pitched and happy, the swirl of floral robes engulfing him as the woman descended to hug him tightly. One of Malcolm's eyebrows rose and he grinned as Remus fought the woman off with a look of panic that changed to happiness when he finally managed to identify his smotherer.

"Morag, you scared the life out of me," he told her, kissing her cheek heartily. "My Gods, what happened here? Where did all the people come from?"

"Out of the woodwork, I'd say. Anyone who is anyone has asked permission to portkey in to meet the new Alpha Prime and catch up on the latest news. Eh, but she's a grand woman our new Alpha! And organised! She had some areas of the forest tamed and tent sites put up, there are designated pack areas and communal pack areas already set out. There's a grand stadium set up for Moon, and the Arbiters are ready to patrol. She's also arranged new 'safe houses' for the norms that are going to be here for Moon, for any reason. After all, we aren't all carrying Wolfsbane, and there's bound to be a few wild ones about. She even convinced a publishing company to donate two thousand free copies of the Book of Lore, so we now have four thousand copies to sell at two thirds the original cost. The money we make will be ploughed back into the publishing of the next run and so on. We're hoping that each pack Alpha will buy a copy for their pack then we can start to get organised for more and better things. Willie McTavish has even decided to print a news sheet for the Moon and sell that off as a souvenir, and people are actually buying it at a galleon a throw! Mind, he has to give twenty knuts of that to the Moon committee, as does everyone who jacks up their prices for the Moon. We're pulling in the money hand over fist!"

"But why?" Moony managed to get in sideways in the excited flow of her chatter.

"Werewolf Enterprises fund. She's getting seed money together so that we can start our own industries, like the printing and the security firm and would you believe, house removals? She is so good at picking businesses. And guess who else has turned up for the first time in history? The Welsh! They have sent a contingent of representatives to check out the Isle and the new Alpha Prime before they decide if they are going to support her or not. Now that was a break-through no one ever expected! And we have a few continental observers too, who will take reports back to the European Enclaves for their information. It's all happening, thanks to Plume!" She giggled and hugged Remus' arm again in her excitement. "Oh, you and your pack are to stay at Betty's, there's no room at the hotel, hope you don't mind? "

"Not at all," Remus said in such dazed tones Paul barked with laughter and Andy smirked.

"And how has he been keeping, really?" Morag suddenly asked of the betas.

"Quite well," Andy replied cheerfully. "Professor Snape has been keeping him very quiet, making sure he eats properly and filling him up with potions to help strengthen the breaks. The Infirmus sent Madame Pomfrey heaps of information on how to treat werewolves and they said they would be available if your infirmary here ever needed assistance with a really bad case. Professor Snape even patented a new potion and donated the royalties to the cause, so that help and cooperation between the various werewolf communities was pretty much assured, along with a trickle of funds."

They trooped into Betty's small, neat cottage and were immediately pulled into hugs and kisses, and handshakes. Betty was delighted to see Remus on his feet and greeted him like a long lost son. She was equally welcoming of his small pack, kissing them all impartially and showing them where to put their bags. She fussed over Paul and Charlie, getting them shortbread and lemonade before taking them to meet the neighbour's two young grandchildren who were also up for the first time. A shout over a back fence brought a couple of teenagers who were delighted to meet Andy and Malcolm, scooping them up and dragging them off to an activity the Isle Youth Group had organised for the Moon Guests. Morag had dashed off to help out at some venue or other and Betty was left alone at the table with Remus.

"Well, Lad, did you ever think you'd see the day? We used to hide in cellars and skulk in forests so that we weren't hunted down and killed out of hand. Now there are thousands of us here on the Isle, and all with a common heart. This is your doing you know, Lad, yours and Jon's, Max and Laurie's, Moira and Toby's, and all those who have gone before. They're celebrating your survival - as much as anything else - as it was all part of the call-to-arms that went out in April and brought the whole werewolf nation issue to a head." Betty laughed at his slightly horrified look. "Never fear Lad, no one will embarrass you, but you must admit, you seem to manage the dramatic without even trying. Oh yes, I heard all about your cliff edge pacing and story telling the last time you were here. Things like that get around in a community that howls aloud rather than just talks quietly to its neighbours."

They were still gossiping amicably when Jon McCarthy wandered into the cosy kitchen with a welcoming grin. He dropped a kiss on Betty's cheek and drew himself a glass of juice from the keg. Betty asked him how his morning had been and he told her he had been supervising a meeting of humans, family of the werewolves and what they would have to do the next night to keep safe while the Mistress was high. He had also spoken to the Daily Prophet's reporter, as well as the Welsh and European delegations, as part of his 'Elder Statesman' persona that Christiana had created for him.

"Betty and I are now officially a couple," he said later, as he and Remus sat on the back step with glasses of pumpkin juice in hand. "She is such a wonderful woman and now that I am not needed to roam the country, I finally proposed, and she accepted! Our new Alpha Prime is a wonderful organiser too, and we did the right thing in setting her up. Everyone is responding to her enthusiasm and her people skills. Just look at this gathering of the Packs. We have dances and sing-alongs this evening to lay down the rules for Moon tomorrow. There is a meeting of Alphas tomorrow afternoon to prepare for Moon. Then tomorrow night we hope Moon goes off smoothly. The day after Moon there is to be a proper dedication service out at the monument."

"She's nation building," Remus said quietly. "Think about it, she has the people meet and greet, forge bonds and ties, pulls the heads of clans together and lays a foundation of law for behaviour. Next she has our common bond built upon and strengthened and finally she gives us a common emotional bond to live up to in the memorial. Merlin, she's good!"

Jon contemplated for a short while then nodded impressed. "You're right, that makes sense and it will work, won't it, Moony?"

"Yes, it will work."

~~*~~

Daily Prophet June 20^th

Werewolf Jamboree

Werewolves from all over our nation and from as far away as Romania and Transylvania gathered on the Isle of Cardoul to celebrate the three days of June Moon this month.

On the first day more than seven thousand werewolves from all over Great Britain and Ireland apparated or portkeyed in to fill up the temporary camping spots and few hotel rooms available on the small Isle of Cardoul, once a concentration camp for werewolves, and now the centre of a budding reformist movement.

The excited crowds joined in the many activities the native Cardoulans and the werewolf Alpha committees had organised for their amusement. By nightfall the whole enormous crowd had gathered for singing and dancing, music and poetry readings. The following day was filled with meetings, forums, various games which a lot of the men and women joined in, and some demonstrations of folk arts including tartan weaving. As the night began to fall, the prefects and marshals began to gather all humans into stone barracks designated as safe houses and hedged with charms to keep werewolves out, humans in.

Our reporter spent the night in the safe house with the relatives of the afflicted werewolves where he discovered that being locked up for the night was not as easy as he thought. However, when he spoke of it to wives, husbands, parents and children, they all agreed that it was only fair as their loved one was locked up twelve nights a year to their one. The atmosphere was festive and quite a number of the relatives actually understood the howling that was going on all around, interpreting the 'language of song' for this reporter.

After such a long night, the werewolves were up quite early, a communal breakfast being served in the common areas. Amazingly, there were only half a dozen casualties of the seven thousand eight hundred and ninety two werewolves who attended the Moon. Mostly the injuries were cuts and bruises, one sprained ankle. Only two were serious, one a fall from a cliff and the other an impaling on a tree branch. There were no fights or deaths despite the reputed savagery of the werewolf character.

As the third afternoon of the Moon commenced, a short, and indeed moving, ceremony was held on the brink of the death drop by the 'Alpha Prime' and the "Beta Prime' the two highest werewolf officials of the budding new nation. Well known business woman Christiana Edmunds gave the stirring keynote address. Equally well known Hogwarts teacher and war hero Remus Lupin told the story of the concentration camp and why the cliff was so important to werewolf Lore. Finally Jonathon McCarthy, retired Alpha Prime, stood up and announced that the Beta Prime was going to retire after his horrendous ordeal at the hands of the black marketers (See a recap of the Smuggler's Story on page 4) and he was stepping up as the Beta Prime Pro Tem until the position could be decided in the usual time-honoured way.

When finally the sun was setting on the third day of the Moon, the majority of the crowd melted away leaving the small Island community to settle back into its usual sleepy pace of life until next June Moon.

~~*~~

"Luanna! Fancy meeting you here?" Drajan hurried forward through the crowd of fellow officers and wrapped brawny arms around the slight British girl who grinned back cheekily.

"Hi yourself, Handsome, good to see you again," Luanna replied, reaching up to kiss his cheek. "Look, I am so lost. I'm trying to find the DI's office so I can report for duty, but everything is written in Romanian and my translation charm doesn't work on text."

Drajan chuckled and took her arm, leading her to the correct office. A discrete tap on the door and he was waved in with her, much to his surprise.

"Ah, Murovski, just the wolf I wanted. This is Auror Luanna Jones from the English Aurory who is going to be attached to our forces for the next six month to learn how to police werewolves successfully. I believe you have met Miss Jones before and worked with her on occasion?"

"Yes sir, I have but...."

"Oh good, you can be the new Human Liaison Officer then, dismissed."

As they stepped outside, then turned to look at each other and burst out laughing. The irony was delicious.

Almost the End.

De Capo

When I was trying to figure out how to murder a werewolf and keep them werewolf shaped even when the Moon was not up, my dear friend and beta Nise and I sat down with a couple of drinks, a laptop and some sketchy notions of chemistry, alchemy and naturopathy. We knew that it would have to be a very special type of potion. Not simply a potion, but a mixture of wand work and potions that would finally convince Snape that perhaps wand work was necessary to potions in some special circumstances, and if the two were mixed the results would be extraordinary. (Setting up for Angelinus, you see.) So, some five hours and a lot of research later, this is what we came up with. Bob ordered me to bed at midnight so Nise refined it to its final and very effective form.

A word of caution. The chemical analysis at the end of the potion is REAL AND TRUE. If anyone mixed this potion and took it - even without the wand work - I can guarantee it would put period to your existence so please, no stupid stuff!

Werewolf Induction/Reduction Charmed Potion

(Makes enough potion to treat one Werewolf.)

Potion Ingredients

Fine Ground White Moonstone

Purple moonflower (Ipomoea muricate) seeds

Moon jellyfish eggs

Aloe Vera plants, (washed and skinned.)

Moonshine Base Potion

Whilst the potion is cooling construct the Encased silver nitrate crystals

Encased Silver Nitrate Crystals

Crystalline Silver Nitrate (no width greater that 5 mm)

Powdered Bone of Werewolf Vertebrae

Sodium Arsenate Crystals (see below)

Doxy Blood

Method

Combination

The potion will retain it potency for up to three days after production.

Charm

Cast a Wingardium Leviosa Werewolf 'charm on the potion.

Use

When required, translocate the Werewolf Induction/Reduction Charmed Potion into the stomach of the target, wait 2 hours for retrieval of goods. Addendum:- For greater safety and accurate retrieval, a tracking charm can be added so one can apparate to a save location to wait out the 2 hours. Be warned, however, that a tracking charm can also be reversed to find you if the Werewolf Induction/Reduction Charmed Potion use is ever discovered.

Action

The passivity of the Aloe Vera aids in the absorption of the active ingredients. The Moonstone, Moonflower and Moon Jellyfish Eggs provide the 'moon light effect' required to support the charm's raising of the werewolf to the surface of mind and body. The charm is required to mimic the gravitational pull on the werewolf, as the full moon does. (if left unimpeded this effect would last 24-48 hours). The Moonflower (being the slowest, but most powerful of the ingredients) requires around sixty minutes (give or take ten minutes depending on body mass) to take effect.

The Sodium Arsenate in the coating of the Silver Nitrate aids in the mutation whilst combining with the Silver Nitrate to make a readily absorbed salt compound as it is dissolving. The coating on the silver nitrate is design to last two hours, the doxy blood is used to control the period of time it will take the stomach acids to dissolve the calcium of the bone ensuring that the transformation has occurred before the neutralisation of the werewolf.

From Real Websites

sodium arsenite